CONGRATULATIONS!

Posttraumatic Abortion-Related Stress in Psychiatric Outpatients is the  third place winner in the 2021 Catholic Media Book Awards category of “Life and Dignity of the Human Person.” Women who were helped by the Pine Rest Study showed up at the late  David C. Hanley’s wake in 2018.  He had not seen them in over 20 years.

Posttraumatic Abortion-Related Stress in Psychiatric Outpatients: Comparisons among Abortion-Distressed, Abortion-Non-Distressed, and No-Abortion Groups

by David C. Hanley, Rachel L. Anderson, David B. Larson, Harry L. Piersma, D. Stephen King, Roger C. Sider

Objective:  This study examines potential risk factors for long-term abortion-related distress in women.

Method: One hundred and two women receiving outpatient psychiatric services were assigned to one of three groups on the basis of their reported abortion history. Women with a positive history of abortion were assigned to a distressed or non-distressed group depending on whether abortion-related distress was a primary presenting problem. Women with no history of abortion who sought outpatient services served as controls.

Results: Comparisons across groups revealed that the abortion-distressed group had symptoms consistent with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, including intrusive thoughts of the abortion experience and active avoidance of events associated with their abortions.  Two women who underwent an abortion following rape were both in the abortion-distressed group.

Conclusions: Implications for identifying women at risk for long-term distress are discussed and suggestions for clinical interventions are made.

Paperback: $9.99 | Kindle: $5.99

Figure 1 in support of the Appendix entitled “Methodological Considerations in Empirical Research on Abortion.” (Anderson, Hanley, Larson, Sider) in  Post-Abortion Syndrome: Its Wider Ramifications ed. by Peter Doherty (Four Courts Press, 1995). Included with permission.

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR’S WIFE, MARY HANLEY

Posttraumatic Abortion-Related Stress in Psychiatric Outpatients, †Hanley, Anderson, †Larson, †Piersma, †King, and Sider is also known as the Pine Rest Study.

The late David C. Hanley, MSW, BCD, noticed that women he was treating for trauma after an abortion had the same symptoms as a Vietnam veteran whom he was treating for PTSD on an inpatient ward at Pine Rest Christian Hospital, Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mr. Hanley treated the women for PTSD. They all got better. He initiated the clinical research which used standardized tests considered to be state of the art at the time. The study was conducted by clinicians and researchers on both sides of the abortion issue. 

The first article was presented to the American Psychological Association, New York, 1995. The article in the appendix, “Methodological Considerations of Empirical Research on Abortion, Anderson, †Hanley, †Larson, and Sider was published as a book chapter in Post-Abortion Syndrome: Its Wide Ramifications ed. by Peter Doherty, Four Courts Press, Dublin, Ireland, 1995. 

I published the Pine Rest Study and related article because Pine Rest colleagues and women helped by this study came to Mr. Hanley’s wake in 2018. He had not seen most of them in over twenty years. The women said they continue to help other women deal with their abortion. I obtained permission to publish from all authors or their living spouses and Four Courts Press.

The book took third place honors in the “Life and Dignity of a Human Person” in the 2021 Catholic Media Book Awards.

Sincerely,

Mrs. David C. Hanley

TESTIMONIALS

“In today’s world where abortion rights advocates advance their services as health care, this 25-year-old study by David C. Hanley and others prophetically exposes abortion as the exact opposite.” — Dr. Sebastian Mahfood, OP, Africa LIFE Runners Coordinator

“I almost dropped to the floor when I opened the package you sent me a few days ago! What a pleasant surprise! Let me start by thanking you from the bottom of my heart for thinking of me and sending David’s research book. I will treasure it as long as I live because it reminds me so much of the clinical work that David, Steve King, and I did together on the Pine Rest Adult Services team.  What a gift you and others have given! You have greatly honored the work that David did to research the literature and administer the protocols on what really happens with women who have undergone elective abortions! I wish we could still sit down together as we did in our team meetings and discuss what our clients were teaching us (!) as we tried to listen and serve them with the compassion of our Savior.  We as students of the mind and emotions are also learning so much in the years since we worked at Pine Rest. The issues of attachment and bonding are so much more prominent now, not only between mother and child but also between husband and wife, friend and friend, teacher and student, and, of course, therapist and client. We are also learning so much more about how the brain reacts to traumatic experiences. We are learning that trauma is just as strong when a relationship is broken or threatened as when physical pain is administered. Advances in brain scanning (fMRI) procedures have documented and confirmed this. I hope there will be more research done, perhaps spurred by David’s work on the attachment of wounds created in pregnant mothers when they are even contemplating an abortion. Well done! —To all who participated in getting this research published!” – Kenneth J. Ellis, PhD, Licensed Psychologist

ABOUT THE AUTHORS 

At the time of the writing in 1995:

David C. Hanley, MSW, was a Senior Clinical Social Worker at Pine Rest Christian Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Trained at the University of Michigan School of Social Work, he has specialized in treatment of women stressed by their abortions and has served as principal investigator of a clinical research study of post-abortion stress conducted at Pine Rest Christian Hospital. 

Rachel L. Anderson was a doctoral student in the Human Development and Social Policy Program at Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. Her research focus was on women’s health, including completion of a systematic review of the medical, psychological and social effects of induced abortion on women, funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 

David B. Larson, MD, MSPH, was Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, Northwestern University Medical School and the United States Uniformed Health Services. A former research psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he then became President of the National Institute of Healthcare Research. Dr. Larson helped to develop the systematic review methodology and specialized in the public policy implication of religious commitment. He had over 160 professional publications in such policy areas as mental health diagnoses and services, the use of nursing homes, and AIDS/HIV infection. 

Harry L. Piersma worked most of his career at Pine Rest Christian Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and later retired from the W.G. Hefner VA Medical Center in Salisbury, North Carolina. 

D. Stephen King, MD, was a Staff Psychiatrist Pine Rest Christian Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Roger C. Sider, MD, was a Medical Director of the Pine Rest Christian Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and professor of Human Medicine at Michigan State University. Trained at the University of Toronto and Johns Hopkins Hospital, he has published numerous articles and book chapters on psychiatric ethics and had a life-long interest in clinical care, clinical administration, and the interface of psychiatry and religion. 

OTHER ACADEMIC BOOKS

Rigidez: Fidelidade ou Heterodoxia? por Pedro Gabriel

Rigidez: Fidelidade ou Heterodoxia? por Pedro Gabriel

Rigidez: Fidelidade ou Heterodoxia? por Pedro Gabriel "Porque é que o Papa Francisco está sempre a criticar os católicos fiéis?" é uma pergunta frequentemente repetida sempre que o Santo Padre faz uma das suas habituais invectivas contra a rigidez religiosa. De facto,...

read more
Rigidity: Faithfulness or Heterodoxy by Pedro Gabriel

Rigidity: Faithfulness or Heterodoxy by Pedro Gabriel

Rigidity: Faithfulness or Heterodoxy? by Pedro Gabriel “Why is Pope Francis always criticizing faithful Catholics?” is an oft-repeated question whenever the Holy Father makes one of his usual invectives against religious rigidity. Francis has indeed made such...

read more
Contemporary Sacred Art: Conversations on Art & Faith

Contemporary Sacred Art: Conversations on Art & Faith

Contemporary Sacred Art: Conversations on Art & Faith by Dr. Michela Beatrice Ferri In translation now from the Italian. Buy it in the original language here: What is the so-called “Contemporary Sacred Art”? In her book, Michela Beatrice Ferri inquires about the...

read more
Elements of Christianity: The Beauty of the Christian Faith

Elements of Christianity: The Beauty of the Christian Faith

Elements of Christianity: The Beauty of the Christian Faith by Tonino Vicari This book attempts to make accessible to the average reader the basic elements of Church teaching concerning morality, natural law, and supernatural truths that have been passed down through...

read more
The Nostalgia for a New Christendom by Mario Ramos-Reyes

The Nostalgia for a New Christendom by Mario Ramos-Reyes

The Nostalgia for a New Christendom by Mario Ramos-Reyes Mario Ramos-Reyes explains the political schizophrenia of mid-20th century Latin America and the healing process that sought to fill the void between Enlightenment liberalism and the Catholic tradition. The cure...

read more
Consuming Love by Fr. Gregory Cleveland, OMV

Consuming Love by Fr. Gregory Cleveland, OMV

Consuming Love: Discovering Christ the Bridegroom in Holy Communion by Fr. Gregory Cleveland, OMV The Eucharist is the “sacrament of love.” Jesus Christ is the true Bridegroom of our hearts, and it is he whom we receive in holy Communion. Even if you have received our...

read more
Heresia Disfarçada de Tradição por Pedro Gabriel

Heresia Disfarçada de Tradição por Pedro Gabriel

Heresia Disfarçada de Tradição por Pedro Gabriel Uma afirmação muito difundida nos círculos católicos atuais é que se pode ignorar os ensinamentos do Papa Francisco ou do Concílio Vaticano II se eles ensinarem algo que parece ir contra a tradição. Será que isso é...

read more
Unpacking Palamism: A Catholic Critique

Unpacking Palamism: A Catholic Critique

Unpacking Palamism: A Catholic Critique by James Likoudis with essays selected and edited by Andrew Likoudis Unpacking Palamism: A Catholic Critique, penned by esteemed scholar Dr. James Likoudis, meticulously scrutinizes the doctrines of Palamism, a theological...

read more
The Lord of the Rings and Catholicism

The Lord of the Rings and Catholicism

The Lord of the Rings and Catholicism: Exploring the Christian Roots of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy by Madeleine Dobrowski This book explores the Catholic themes that can be found in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. It is written for all lovers of Tolkien, Catholic or...

read more
Human Nature: Moral Norm

Human Nature: Moral Norm

Human Nature: Moral Norm by Francis Etheredge There is a 'difference, both anthropological and moral, between contraception and recourse to the rhythm of the cycle: it is a difference which is much wider and deeper than is usually thought, one which involves in the...

read more
Heresy Disguised as Tradition

Heresy Disguised as Tradition

Heresy Disguised as Tradition by Pedro Gabriel A widespread assertion in Catholic circles today is that one can disregard the teachings of Pope Francis or the Second Vatican Council if they teach something that seems to go against tradition. Is this the case? In this...

read more
The Social Encyclicals and Saint Thomas Aquinas

The Social Encyclicals and Saint Thomas Aquinas

The Social Encyclicals and Saint Thomas Aquinas by Dr. Donald G. Boland The social encyclicals of the Catholic Church provide an opportunity to treat human behavior from a practical moral philosophical point of view grounded in Aristotle as interpreted by Saint Thomas...

read more
The Necessity of Knowledge for Love and its Application

The Necessity of Knowledge for Love and its Application

The Necessity of Knowledge for Love and Its Application by Fr. Paul Ezinando In this work, Fr. Paul Ezinando not only demonstrates that knowledge is a necessity for love, but he also shows that proper knowledge promotes love. Following the argument of St. Augustine,...

read more
Unfolding a Post-Roe World

Unfolding a Post-Roe World

Unfolding a Post-Roe World by Francis Etheredge Unfolding a Post-Roe World is the second edition of what had formerly been entitled The ABCQ of Conceiving Conception. It explores what is involved in grasping the beginning of each of us – but we need the truth to open...

read more
Los principios del cambio

Los principios del cambio

Los principios del cambio: La reforma carmelita de Teresa de Ávila y las ideas de la gestión del cambio Kristina R. Olsen Este libro se basa en los principios de gestión del cambio organizacional para examinar la reforma de la Orden Carmelita de Teresa de Ávila en el...

read more
The Wonder of the Eucharist

The Wonder of the Eucharist

The Wonder of the Eucharist: More Voices from the Twentieth Century by Dennis Billy, C.Ss.R. This book examines some of the major literary voices from the past century who deepened our understanding of the Eucharist by embedding it in their short stories, novels,...

read more
Paradoxes of Faith and Reason

Paradoxes of Faith and Reason

Paradoxes of Faith and Reason by Dr. Shalina Stilley Paradox it is at the very heart of the Gospel message. The Trinity, the Incarnation, the Cross and Resurrection, and the problem of evil are but a few examples of paradoxes of faith and reason. How can God be three...

read more
Rise and Fall of the American Empire

Rise and Fall of the American Empire

A new book from En Route Books and media critically analyzes how the Republic fashioned by the Framers of the Constitution in 1787 has been transformed into a deep Administrative State ruled by non-elected experts.Rise and Fall of the American Empire by Dr. Richard...

read more
Reaching for the Resurrection: A Pastoral Bioethics

Reaching for the Resurrection: A Pastoral Bioethics

Reaching for the Resurrection: A Pastoral Bioethics Loneliness, Aloneness, Euthanasia, Meaning, Anorexia, Brain Death, Conversion, and the Death and Resurrection of Christ   by Francis Etheredge Francis Etheredge returns to the subject of bioethics with essays on...

read more
Principles of Change by Kristina R. Olsen

Principles of Change by Kristina R. Olsen

Principles of Change: Teresa of Avila’s Carmelite Reform and Insights from Change Management Kristina R. Olsen This book draws from organizational change management principles to examine Teresa of Avila’s 16th-century reform of the Carmelite Order. During the last...

read more
Exploring the Belief in the Real Presence

Exploring the Belief in the Real Presence

Exploring the Belief in the Real Presence (Second Edition) by Dr. David J. Keys When an evangelical minister asked him why one would believe that Jesus is present -- body, blood, soul, and divinity -- in communion, Dr. Keys began an intensive study into the ancient...

read more
The Biblical Qur’an: A Christian Investigation

The Biblical Qur’an: A Christian Investigation

The Biblical Qur'an: A Christian Investigation by Michael Healy, Jr. Can Christians interpret the Qur’an Christocentricly, as we have always done with the Old Testament? How would such a reading of the Qur’an modify our understanding of Christian and Muslim history?...

read more
History of Peter

History of Peter

History of Peter by Roger Skrenes Peter is spoken of 195 times in the New Testament, twice as many times as all the other Apostles combined. Today, when Peter is discussed, however, what is most often emphasized is the erratic or sinful side of his personality. Jesus...

read more